Editor’s Note: The new CBA-CLE book Immigration Law for the Colorado Practitioner is now available for purchase. In addition to federal laws and regulations, lawyers must understand specific Colorado immigration laws and policies being implemented, and how they can affect their clients. This comprehensive reference covers an incredible range of practice issues, providing the necessary orientation, analysis, and authorities. It’s a new “must have” for the Colorado general practitioner, lawyers who focus their practice in areas that overlap with immigration law, as well as for lawyers who focus exclusively on immigration law. Click here for more information and to order.

The U.S. Department of State (“department”) opened registration for the 2013 Diversity Lottery Program will on October 4, 2011.The department will accept electronically-submitted registration applications (E-DV Form) until noon (EDT) on November 5, 2011.

Annually, the department sets aside 55,000 immigrant visas for the Diversity Visa Program. Out of the 55,000, 5,000 visas are allocated and available to aliens eligible to apply under the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA). The department selects and distributes the available 2013 Diversity Visas to nationals from among six geographic regions and up to 7% of applicants from any single eligible country.

Nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants tot he United States or more are not eligible to register for the Diversity Visa Program. The list of ineligible countries includes natives from the following: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born)*, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

*Natives of Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible to register.

Eligible registrants must submit an E-DV Form at www.dvlottery.state.gov to enter the lottery. The department will no longer accept paper entries. The official, electronic form is only in English. However, registrants may find unofficial translations of the electronic form on the department’s website, in Albanian, Armenian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Uzbek. Other translations of the form or assistance with translations may be available at the respective US Embassy website or foreign post in the registrant’s country of residence.

The electronic registration system provides each registrant with a unique confirmation number. On or after May 1, 2013, registrants can return to the department’s website to check if their confirmation number has been selected. If selected, the department will then send instructions to the successful registrant on how to apply for an immigrant visa.

Every year, through the wonders of internet technology, more fraudulent websites are created as scams charging unnecessary fees to unwary lottery registrants. The websites often appear as official government websites. Scammers may also send emails or letters “posing as the U.S. government.” Please remember that the department does NOT collect a fee from registrants to enter the Diversity Visa Program. In addition, the department will NOT send registrants status updates or selection notices via email or regular mail. Registrants must check the department’s website using their confirmation number for updates on their entry.

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Featured CLE: April 22-23, 2015

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Featured Homestudy: Business Law Institute

Does an employer’s drug-free workplace policy trump an employee’s use of medical marijuana to treat medical conditions that may qualify as a disability? Yes, according to a recent decision by a Colorado federal judge. In Curry v. MillerCoors, Inc., Judge John Kane rejected a terminated employee’s claim that his employer discriminated against him on the basis of his disability when it discharged him for testing positive for marijuana. Read more about this case and others in the Business Law Institute homestudy - click here to order!

Law Practice Tip of the Week

Solo Tip Tuesday: Keep Track of Requests You've Made of Others in a Folder Called @WFFThis could be my all-time favorite tip. We often use email to ask someone to send us something, or check on something and get back to us, etc. Sending the email is the easy part. The hard part is keeping track of what you asked for and when, and then remembering to follow up when the person doesn’t get back to you. Click here to read more.

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Editor’s note: This is Part 17 of a series of posts in which Denver-area real estate attorney Frederick Skillern provides summaries of case law pertinent to real estate practitioners (click here for previous posts). These updates originally appeared as materials for the 32nd Annual Real Estate Symposium in July 2014. By Frederick B. Skillern Egelhoff v. Taylor […]